In paradise, the glass Velispar danced in crystal, clear waters. Xen watched from afar trying to understand the nature of the creature within his gaze. And wished that the velispar noticed him, in the same way, he curiously awed at it from afar. But Xen knew it was a foolish thing to desire. He understood that it was nothing more than a crazed fantasy brought on by his morpher's mania. The creature of that size was far too big to morph into and probably possessed ferocity of the same magnitude of its mass. However, Xen could not resist wondering about the possibilities.

“ It's serpent-like in nature though I doubt such a creature would approach the shore and not devour me, ” Xen mentioned as he stood on the shoreline, not too far from a rocky outcropping where seagulls and other aquatic birds lingered and flew. He was fortunate that Captain Mathias Okavis told him about the velispar; they were supposedly rare and powerful creatures born from the natural elements that supported the world. Whether such things were factual or not would remain a mystery, for it did not matter to Xen; he just wanted to copy the creature.

Then Xen turns his attention elsewhere: where he noticed the birds gathering in large numbers near the shoreline. Their frenzied state aroused his curiosity and compelled him to chase the possibility of finding something worthwhile. Maybe there was a treasure he could salvage? That was the reason he came to the beach: to fulfill the need to find something valuable hidden amongst the sands and water. So Xen walked down the beach, pursuing victory and riches.

Last edited by Xen on September 10th, 2017, 8:18 pm, edited 3 times in total.

There were hordes of seagulls that screeched and filled the air with their scents and feathers: most of them trotted along the beach while others flew over the waves to harass the unfortunate schools of fish that caught their attention. Naturally, sharks and dolphins joined the fray, causing a feeding frenzy that seemingly revitalized the various creatures that hid in the sand below the waves. And those that lurked among the rocky outcroppings above the blue waters.

Xen observed the festivities from the shore, waiting and listening for anything that had been touched by misfortune to cross his path while he combed the beach for treasure and anything worthwhile to bring back to Syka. He saw nothing besides sand, waves, crabs, and seagulls in the early hour; it looked like his day on the beach would be a short and tiresome one as the sands did not offer anything that he could see. Xen sighed as he stalked the beach in some old shorts. He didn't wear his black clothing and leather armor this time, deeming it unnecessary to wear on a hot day.

Quietly, Xen walked along the shore until he reached the rocky outcropping. Here small pools of water and life existed at the mercy of the cool ocean and treacherous sun. Xen peeked over the edge of the outcropping and looked across the rocky formation towards the gathering of birds and immediately noticed the center of their attention: a dead shark or some other large, finned creature of the deep. He couldn't see the creature due to the birds making it's identity a mystery with their large numbers, yet he still wanted to snag a piece of it or one of the seagulls.

Next, Xen unsheathed his katana then repositioned his swimming goggles over his eyebrows. Afterward, he slowly crept over the outcropping and was careful to not cut his feet on the jagged rocks. Loud, crashing waves concealed Xen's approach as his form neared the other end of the outcropping. But before he could jump down and charge the seagulls—sword in hand—an unfamiliar presence loomed over him. Xen turned to the left—toward the vast ocean—and noticed a strange creature crouched and ready to ambush him.

“ Great... ” Xen uttered sarcastically as he maintained eye contact with the strange creature that wanted to prey upon him.

The thing had dark blue scales and a streamlined body; there were several long, sensory protrusions like whiskers upon its countenance, and it possessed four webbed feet. Light crimson, red scales lined the back of its head, upper back, elbows, and tail which was thick like a great club. Although two feet tall at the shoulders, the creature did not give off the impression that it was weak; intent filled eyes and glaring teeth pointed in Xen's direction whispering pain and death assured this to be true.

Swiftly, Xen jumped down from the outcropping and onto the sand, he then ran toward the center of the beach: where the birds had gathered. The Karkula Whiptail leapt and followed him, initiating a battle with only one grim outcome.

Last edited by Xen on September 10th, 2017, 8:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Xen gauged the distance between him and the Karkula Whiptail and gradually made that gap bigger; he wanted to be beyond the beasts attack range out of fear that it may use its powerful legs to pounce upon him at some unanticipated moment. Slowly, he slid his feet along the sand as he fixated his gaze on the new and alien beast of Caiyha that decided to grace him with its presence.

Naturally, the desperate and starved Karkula Whiptail followed Xen; it refused to let him escape because of its harsh circumstances. The Karkula Whiptail released a throaty, bubbling growl at Xen who backed away from it in a hurried shuffle but it did not charge him or initiate a full attack. It noticed Xen's eyes which contradicted his movements on the beach: they held fear, yet possessed a weariness and alertness that were common for a predator to wield. The Karkula Whiptail understood from its keen animalistic intuition that its prey was a pursuer. Xen felt the Karkula Whiptail's gaze on him and somehow sensed that the creature was sizing him up. No, he was certain that the beast was doing so; its eyes alluding to the fact.

Xen continued to widen the gap between him and his foe then suddenly sidestepped to the right with his katana positioned in front of him to move from in front of the beast. The Karkula Whiptail responded to Xen's sudden movement with a short lunging swipe of its right claw; instincts telling to attack its prey's legs to immobilize it.

Xen reacted by impulse and jumped back to keep the distance as wide as possible but stumbled slightly as a result of his haste. He recovered quickly with the grace of a toddler learning how to walk and slashed at the Karkula whiptail out of embarrassment and fear. However, Xen's blade never reached the beast due to the unfavorable distance between him and the agitated Karkula Whiptail.

It rushed Xen while he attempted compose himself and spun its scale encapsulated body in his direction. Sheer and utter panic ensued Xen's effort to evade the club-like tail that hurtled towards his shin bone, so he jumped with all the acrobatics skill he had and raised his legs to avoid a broken ankle too. The Karkula Whiptail tail flew through the air; created a swishing sound as it traveled, and then struck the sand beside it.

Xen landed on the sand afterward; bent his legs and jumped away from the beast like a flea. Now he really knew the Karkula Whiptail wasn't something to be trifled with after he felt the force of its tail beneath his feet. He was certain that this creature could break bone. Xen trembled with anxiety and odd excitement: a possibly rare creature had stumbled into his life; he couldn't ask for more besides it not try to kill him.

“ I have to make this creature my model later,” Xen thought as he scurried on the sand with one hand and held his katana in the other; he knew those plans to morph into the Karkula Whiptail obviously had to wait, that he knew, yet how he'd escape the Karkula Whiptail had not become that sound to Xen yet. And it seemed like his foe wished to not give him the time to think it over either.

The Karkula Whiptail turned its streamline body around and swiped, prompting Xen to take action against its advance. He swung several times at the Karkula Whiptail; each stroke of his blade exaggerated and wide like he was trying to knock the beasts head off with a blunt club instead of a sharp and cold iron sword. Though such skill and barbarity was not totally unexpected.

Xen missed the first and second swing, yet managed to strike the Karakula Whiptail upside its head the third time, except the blow wasn't enough to behead or fell the beast; it only halted the Karkula Whiptail long enough for Xen to run away from it. Naturally, the sand forced his escape to be a lot less graceful than it should've been, making him appear unbalanced since he'd never fought in the sand before. Its shifty, semi-solid surface left Xen feeling encumbered and off sync every time he attempted to shift his weight forward and propel his body.

The Karkula Whiptail driven mad by desperation and hunger continued in its pursuit of Xen's clumsy, unskilled gait. Xen heard the Karkula Whiptail release a sound that was a mixture between a roar and a hiss behind him as he ran toward the feeding seagulls ignorant and full off the meat of a dead Karkula Whiptail, completely at ease with the world while two desperate and hungry things ran towards them.

Xen ran like a fool, yet the sand nor the world blessed him with a miracle despite the dire constraints that were upon him. However, he was closer now, closer than he ever was to the seagulls seemingly entertained by his dreadful dilemma as they curiously gazed and seemingly humorously squawked at him.

Last edited by Xen on September 10th, 2017, 9:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Finally, Xen noticed what the seagulls were eating: it was another karkula whiptail, though, smaller than the one that currently pursued him, he assumed the creature was once no less deadly than its larger kin.

Xen ran towards the karkula whiptail carcass and attempted to jump over the beast. However, he over anticipated the jump and crashed in the sand just inches away from the sun-scorched corpse accompanied by unsympathetic birds. Xen panicked and hurried to compose himself in the thick sand as he flipped onto his back and pointed his sword at the karkula whiptail.

He watched in horror as the creature refused to let him escape even after it pounced at him and was transfixed through the chest by his blade. It was a moment—while he held the Karkula Whiptail by the neck— he noticed its pale, emaciated state and the painful desperation in its eyes, reminding him how raw things were. Wisely, Xen despite how he sympathized with his foe, secured his grip around the Karkula Whiptail neck as it bit at his face and clawed clothing off his body until its movements ceased.

He immediately felt sorry for the beast because he lacked the skill required to release it from its misery. “ I'm sorry... I also must live,” Xen apologized to the whiptail, there was just something about the way it weakly growled that made him not want to leave it alone as it slowly died, probably because he to feared dying alone. Since he lacked the resolve and courage needed to put an end to his own suffering, so he lied in front of the jungle alive and cowardly.

Awards & RetributionMark of the Beast- with proper treatment the claw scratches across Xen's chest and abdomen will have healed in 50 days. However, raised scars will remain. The damaged tissue must be stretched regularly or risk becoming stiff.

NotesYES! Finally, monster battles. More people should be throwing vicious beasts into their stories. The monster lore on Miza is criminally underutalized.

Great thread! A solid action story with stalking predators and a great fight. You obviously have a great writing vocabulary and a good sense of pacing. And you can keep good track of the action and where everything is, which is always difficult.

As a brief note on Katanas, they're much shorter than I think you're picturing. They're only about a foot long, which makes all combat very close combat. They're also extremely brittle, and realisticly would have snapped when impaling the monster. So after reading the lore on the Whiptail, along with your novice skill level, I've made the decision to give you some un-threaded injuries to balance out the encounter. If you disagree we can duke it out politely discuss it via PM.